One day Lansing’s Fran Russell realized there were three times as many people in her field of design and marketing as there had been, and only half as many people wanting to buy those services. It was the fallout of the crumbling economy. She needed another way to make money.
It occurred to her that for years she had been making a concoction of almonds, cashews and pecans, tossed in a salty, sweet, spicy blend. Her friends nagged her for them. Maybe the public would like them, too.
But mixing up a small batch of any kind of food at home is far different from entering the realm of feeding the public. There are laws, permits, labeling rules, packaging regulations, and more.
Even so, she dove in. A year later, and $5,000 invested, she is finding pure pleasure in a business that one day may totally occupy her. For now, it takes only
10 percent of her time, as she scrambles to keep her design business afloat.
A visit to the
Michigan State University (MSU) Product Center flattened the food learning curve. The center is charged with helping people in the community get new businesses going. People there complimented her for what she had accomplished so far, particularly her graphic designs for her “famous nuts.”
They directed her to
The Starting Block, the MSU incubator kitchen, in Hart, Michigan, two hours away. For $15 an hour, she could use its enormous kitchen with the latest equipment to brew her spicy mix. She’ll be trying that while she gets her product ordering system in place.
The Product Center recommended she push the nuts into the retail market but she doesn’t make as much money as when she sells them herself, which she clearly enjoys. She’ll try
online sales beginning in November with a
PayPal set up, and develop a corporate gift catalog.
For now, she takes orders by
e-mail. She hopes to create a gift program where people can send the nuts monthly, or quarterly, for example. The nuts are in a few retail places, such as
Michigania and
Dusty’s Cellar, but her fantasy is to see them also in the
Whole Foods Markets or
Trader Joes, and paired with wines and beers.
Meanwhile, she takes them to one of her favorite venues for selling: farmers’ markets.
Source: Fran Russell, Fran's Famous Nuts
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached
here.
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